“There is no Sleepy Hollow on the Internet, no peaceful spot where contemplativeness can work its restorative magic. There is only the endless, mesmerizing buzz of the urban street.”
Nicholas Carr, from The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (New York: Norton, 2010)
Monday, January 30, 2012
On Sprawl and the American Landscape
Please have a look at this photo essay on the state of our urban/suburban landscapes. What would Emerson or Thoreau say?
I found the photo essay to be very powerful and matter-of-fact, especially the line, "Sometimes progress is wasteful." I think Emerson would certainly object to the naive, harsh environment in the photos, especially since humans made that place sad and scarce. He saw in nature wisdom, happiness and simplicity.
That was incredibly depressing, but also very telling. I thought the caption under the hotel photo where apparently the guests complained about a lack of scenery explains the need for a lot of people to be connected with nature in some way (which I think Emerson and Thoreau would both agree is needed). I can also see that they would probably be ashamed at how much of the natural space that was used for more modern conveniences and then simply abandoned later on because the town went downhill. I mean, what really is the point of an empty parking lot nobody uses?
I found the photo essay to be very powerful and matter-of-fact, especially the line, "Sometimes progress is wasteful." I think Emerson would certainly object to the naive, harsh environment in the photos, especially since humans made that place sad and scarce. He saw in nature wisdom, happiness and simplicity.
ReplyDeleteThat was incredibly depressing, but also very telling. I thought the caption under the hotel photo where apparently the guests complained about a lack of scenery explains the need for a lot of people to be connected with nature in some way (which I think Emerson and Thoreau would both agree is needed). I can also see that they would probably be ashamed at how much of the natural space that was used for more modern conveniences and then simply abandoned later on because the town went downhill. I mean, what really is the point of an empty parking lot nobody uses?
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